Happy to Hear VU2TEK on SO 50 Using VU3ZNG Open WebRX!

Yesterday I had posted about the VU3ZNG Open WebRX which can get LEO Amateur Radio Satellite signals. Early morning there was a pass of Space Station of about 23 degree maximum elevation, but I could see only an occasional signal on the waterfall at the ARISS bookmark on the Open WebRX. So I decided to try again at 5.57 am IST when there was a pass of Saudisat (SO-50) of about 71 degree maximum elevation in this region. I could see the signals of the satellite being acquired on the waterfall as intermittent bursts of signal. The increase in intensity of signals as the satellite neared the Time of Closest Approach was obvious. The shift in signal frequency was also visible on the waterfall. Best of all, I could hear VU2TEK mentioning his call sign clearly towards the time of TCA. Though I could hear him only once, I was quite happy because Saudisat has always been difficult for me being a satellite with requirement for an initial activation tone of 74.4 Hz and a later access tone of 67 Hz. Moreover, Elmers used to say that as it is nearly 22 years old, the initial power output of 250mW would have come down to 50mW, though the controller had confirmed in an email to me that the satellite is working fine.

I am posting a long video recording of the pass as seen on VU3ZNG Open WebRX to illustrate the Doppler shift on the waterfall. The thin line seen continuously is not the satellite signal, but the bookmark. Satellite signals can be seen as a wider band intermittently beside it, gradually shifting in frequency on each burst of signal. That is how I usually get satellite signals in my fixed linearly polarized Moxon Yagi. It is a wide band receiver without Doppler tracking at present, though VU3ZNG has plans to implement it later. VU2TEK can be heard calling QRZ at around 2:48 of the video clip.